Monthly Archives: December 2011

Avadhūta Gītā

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Vajragoni

The Avadhūta Gītā is traditionally considered as a sacred text of Advaita attributed to Dattatreya who was looked upon as an incarnation of Brahman. Yet it far exceeds any one limited definition. Avadhuta essentially means a “liberated one”—one who has transcended the material state and has awakened into the Self-Realization of the Divine Atman. A Shining One, beyond all secular or religious attributes and who now sings of the Pure, undefiled, and Unborn stateless state on the further shore of Nirvana. Reading and studying this Gita is a sheer joy as it seems to emanate from the Unborn Spirit Itself—bespeaking that all-pervasive Sacred Selfhood, devoid of all dualities—indeed, the Real looking at the Real and no-thing else… read more

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Solitude

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Vajragoni

As the dying embers of 2011 fade away into the rising horizon of January and the increasing frigid temperatures experienced in northern climes, it is a good opportunity to turn-about from all the crazed excessiveness of the holiday turmoil and just gently settle-in to the contemplative dimension that Winter Stillness can offer, namely Solitude itself. Usually when one considers solitude, images of locations that offer seclusion and solace from all sensory stimulations—like monasteries, temples, retreat centers, a mountain escape—immediately come to mind that define the exact parameters of what constitutes solitude. Having experienced such “retreat” locations in the past—for many years I frequented a Carmelite House of Prayer that was neatly nestled in the majestic mountains of New Hampshire—I can say with certainty that it was good and healthy and spiritually nourishing to frequent this setting from time to time to relish in the quietude it so graciously offered; yet, what about the other 99% of the time—is solitude necessarily defined by a location? read more

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Prior to Christmas

Posted on December 25, 2011 by Vajragoni

Throughout Christendom the great feast of the Incarnation highlights again and again the early infancy narratives found within the gospels of Matthew and Luke, narratives that focus on the birth of the Christ-child, the Prince of Peace. It’s interesting to note that there are numerous parallels within many spiritual traditions throughout the millennia that speak of a miraculous birth of a long-awaited Messiah, most notably within many Pagan motifs like the one describing how the Egyptian Deity Horus was miraculously conceived of the virgin-Goddess Isis, who later fled to an isolated location to give birth since someone desired the death of her child. In fact, December 25th was chosen in antiquity for Christ’s birth since it coincided with the birth of the Sun-god, Sol Invictus; a reminder that the long days of darkness were now being supplanted with the slow return of the Light. read more

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The Dark Call of the Unborn

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Tozen

I sense there are many searching wanderers, spiritual seekers out there looking to find that place of rest that spirituality promises. I spent my youth wandering from philosophy to philosophy, from worldview to worldview. I experimented with many attitudes to life, from hedonistic to ascetic. The German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, condensed the philosophical questions in this way: read more

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Tara

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Vajragoni

In the dharma expanse of the Unborn Mother
She, holy Goddess, Tara resides
Bestowing well-being to all.
Invoke her protection from all fear read more

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A Healing Balm

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Vajragoni

In the spring-summer of 2010 I went through an agonizing recovery period resulting from an emergency surgery on my spine. A dermatologist had negligently prescribed a horrible drug called CycloSporine to treat my acute psoriasis-eczema; after two months of taking this medication and experiencing severe pain in my upper back and shoulder, the drug had actually eaten a hole through my C6-C7 vertebrae. Needless to say, I was immobilized for some time after the surgery and endured severe pain that could not be dissipated through the use of pain drugs; nothing helped to ease the incredible throbbing that incessantly shot through my upper torso—not medication, not prayer, not meditation. Amazingly, it was the “Dance of the Siddhars”, music and video by Turiya Nada that helped to subside the agony for substantial amounts of time. I would sway back and forth in my chair as this enticing yoga of the siddhars seemed to transport me beyond the ever-present pain into a timeless realm—indeed, into the deathless dimension of the Unborn Itself. That experience left an indelible mark that revealed the marvelous and diverse ways that the Unborn Spirit comes and reveals Itself in our times of desperate need. read more

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Is the Unborn elitist?

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Vajragoni

As Bankei once stated, “The Unborn Buddha Mind is marvelously illuminating”. Bankei’s Zen was refreshing and life-giving; as part of this “illumination”, Bankei was empowered to assert that “Everyone is endowed with the Buddha-mind, only they don’t know it.” He knew that the hidden bodhiseed lay dormant beneath layers of ignorance, avidya, but if properly invoked, it would awake within the mind of the dreaming. He was no elitist, as though his own self-realization and sect alone held the necessary gnosis for salvific freedom; indeed, the common person (worldling), too, was allowed entrance through his dharma-gate into the all-inclusive and healing embrace of the Unborn. read more

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Spiritual Syncretism

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Vajragoni

Having studied and experienced many diverse spiritual paths for over 30 years, it is indeed amazing how one discovers similar threads running through each unique system, threads that convey the awe and mystery of the prior-animating force that gives birth to a majestic panorama revealing the full creative prowess of the Unborn. Sir Nisargadatta Maharaj was one such herald of the Unborn, although his path began by focusing on the consciousness-factor (the I Am) that miraculously appears on the face of the Unborn Essence, but then one day subsides and returns again to the primordial animating principle. In his later years he focused on always being “prior to consciousness” and awakening to the fact that You are That which is before all outflows—the Parabrahmin. read more

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Regeneration

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Vajragoni

When the adept’s perceptional faculties are regenerated, all discursive associations dissolve away like shadows disappearing into the deepening twilight. One awakens beyond the mundane affairs of the heavy-laden body consciousness into the boundless miracle of the deathless principle. There is no turning back; if one were to rekindle just one former attachment, then sweet union with the unborn is lost. All one need do is to allow this regeneration of one’s former pattern of existence to emerge. To paraphrase a familiar spiritual proclamation, “And I live, now not I, but the Unborn Spirit liveth in me.” read more

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Seek Ye Not

Posted on December 4, 2011 by Vajragoni

The great Rhineland Mystic, Meister Eckhart, expressed the opening of the dark principle in this fashion: “Seek God, so as never to find him”. Eckhart’s statement is packed with dharma-delight; if you’re trying to capture the essence of the Absolute Unknowable (cloaked by the term God), then It will constantly elude your efforts.  The Ecclesiastical authorities of his day could never pin Meister Eckhart down, although they were able to silence his profound mystical writings from gaining any merit within the exoteric church. Yet, his marvelous insights have outlived the Magisterial Monsters of his time and his work continues to shine within both apophatic and kataphatic spiritual traditions. In light of the Buddhadharma of the Sacred Unknowable, the beloved dark pearl of the Unborn Mind cannot be discovered through any obtuse discursive searching, but rather through a way of surrendering all sensate faculties in favor of the supraessential light of unbounded and undivided bodhipower. (The power of the awakened spirit-mind) read more

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